Geneva Statement on Ukraine

The Geneva meeting on the situation in Ukraine agreed on initial concrete steps to de-escalate tensions and restore security for all citizens.

All sides must refrain from any violence, intimidation or provocative actions. The participants strongly condemned and rejected all expressions of extremism, racism and religious intolerance, including anti-semitism.

All illegal armed groups must be disarmed; all illegally seized buildings must be returned to legitimate owners; all illegally occupied streets, squares and other public places in Ukrainian cities and towns must be vacated.

Amnesty will be granted to protestors and to those who have left buildings and other public places and surrendered weapons, with the exception of those found guilty of capital crimes.

It was agreed that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission should play a leading role in assisting Ukrainian authorities and local communities in the immediate implementation of these de-escalation measures wherever they are needed most, beginning in the coming days. The U.S., E.U. and Russia commit to support this mission, including by providing monitors.

The announced constitutional process will be inclusive, transparent and accountable. It will include the immediate establishment of a broad national dialogue, with outreach to all of Ukraine’s regions and political constituencies, and allow for the consideration of public comments and proposed amendments.

The participants underlined the importance of economic and financial stability in Ukraine and would be ready to discuss additional support as the above steps are implemented.

Remarks of John Kerry, Secretary of State, With EU High Representative Catherine Ashton After Their Meeting

Geneva, Switzerland, April 17, 2014

John Kerry

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good afternoon, everybody. Or good evening, actually, I guess. I’m very, very grateful to be joined here today by the High Representative Cathy Ashton, my friend and colleague, and a terrific partner in this and in other efforts. And I thank her for her leadership throughout this particular initiative.

Diplomacy requires willing partners, and I also want to thank Minister Deshchytsia and also Minister Lavrov for their willing work in the course of today, their readiness to engage in a constructive dialogue. We worked hard, and we worked in good faith, in order to try to narrow what are real differences, some of them significant, and to find a way forward for the people of Ukraine that helps them in achieving their aspiration to live in a stable, peaceful, and unified democracy.

As recent events in eastern Ukraine make clear, they need our support now, and they need it more than ever. Ukraine has shown admirable – sometimes, I think, even remarkable – restraint in the face of considerable challenge. But no one should expect the leaders of a sovereign state to always stand by passively while public order is threatened. And the public order of Ukraine has been threatened in recent days.

Our most urgent task is to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. So let me just outline where we are and some initial concrete steps that we have agreed to take in the course of the discussions today in order to de-escalate the tensions and restore security for all Ukrainians.

The parties agreed today that all sides must refrain from the use of violence, intimidation, or provocative actions. And we strongly condemned and rejected all expressions of extremism, racism, and religious intolerance, including anti-Semitism.

Let me say a quick word about that. Just in the last couple of days, notices were sent to Jews in one city indicating that they had to identify themselves as Jews. And obviously, the accompanying threat implied is – or threatened – or suffer the consequences, one way or the other.

In the year 2014, after all of the miles traveled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable; it’s grotesque. It is beyond unacceptable. And any of the people who engage in these kinds of activities, from whatever party or whatever ideology or whatever place they crawl out of, there is no place for that. And unanimously, every party today joined in this condemnation of that kind of behavior.

In addition, recently, the Ukrainian – the Russian Orthodox Church members in Ukraine were threatened that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was somehow going to attack them in the course of the next days. That kind of behavior, that kind of threat, has no place. And all parties agreed that that kind of behavior is not just grotesque and unacceptable, but it will not stand the test of the direction that Ukraine wants to move in.

We agreed today that all illegal armed groups must be disarmed, that all illegally seized buildings must be returned to their legitimate owners, and all illegally occupied streets, squares, and other public places in Ukrainian cities and towns must be vacated.

The Government of Ukraine itself affirmed, and again today, that it will grant amnesty to protestors and to those who have left buildings and other public places and surrender weapons, with the exception of those people who are found guilty of capital offenses.

We also agreed – and I think this is a key part of what was focused on today – we wanted to find concrete steps, not just words, but concrete steps that could be acted on immediately in order to defuse the situation. And so we agreed that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, which is already on the ground, whose mission has already been defined and granted, that they undertake a special role in assisting Ukrainian authorities in local communities in the immediate implementation of the de-escalation measures, that they will do so wherever they are needed the most in the coming days. That means beginning immediately. The United States, the EU, and Russia committed to support this mission, including by providing monitors directly.

Now I want to emphasize that Ukraine’s leaders indicated that they are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to address regional demands for more autonomy, for local self-government, for the protection of minority rights. And I talked this afternoon with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, and he indicated and reaffirmed his and the government’s strong commitment to a genuine, comprehensive, and inclusive process by which they will engage in the constitutional reform process of Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Deshchytsia briefed us on the extensive and inclusive constitutional reform process already underway, which is geared to address all of the legitimate grievances, but importantly, he and Prime Minister Yatsenyuk committed themselves to going as far as they can to reach out to opponents, to people with different ideas, from people from different constituencies, from different geography, and bring them together over the course of these next days in order to have a comprehensive, inclusive process.

Today, the Ukrainian foreign minister, Minister Deshchytsia, affirmed all of us repeatedly that they will have an inclusive, transparent, and accountable constitutional reform process, and it will include the immediate establishment of a broad national dialogue with outreach to all of Ukraine’s regions and political constituencies, and it will allow for the consideration of public comments and proposed amendments that will be considered. The parties also agreed on the importance of the economic-financial stability of Ukraine, and the importance of all of us being engaged in that effort going forward.

Now, all of this, we believe, represents – excuse me – all of this, we are convinced, represents a good day’s work. But on the other hand, this day’s work has produced principles, and it has produced commitments, and it has produced words on paper. And we are the first to understand and to agree that words on paper will only mean what the actions that are taken as a result of those words produce. So it is absolutely clear now that what is important is that these words are translated immediately into actions, and none of us leave here with the sense that the job is done because the words are on the paper.

The job will not be done until these principles are implemented, until they are followed up on. And what is vital is that the OSCE needs to get to work immediately to de-escalate the security situation in Luhansk, in Donetsk, in Sloviansk, and all the other towns that have been destabilized. And people need to provide them the immediate access in order to be able to do that job, and we intend to be watching extremely carefully to make certain that our monitors and our embassies and our eyes on the ground are able to verify what is taking place.

We fully expect the Russians, as they said they would here today, to demonstrate their seriousness by insisting that pro-Russian separatists, who they’ve been supporting, lay down their arms, leave the buildings, and pursue their political objectives through the constitutional processes that the agreement guarantees. No more incidents of this kind should occur, and if they do, it will be clear that it will elicit a response.

I made clear to Foreign Minister Lavrov today that if we’re not able to see progress on the immediate efforts to be able to implement the principles of this agreement this weekend, then we will have no choice but to impose further costs on Russia.

The Ukrainian Government has exhibited extraordinary patience and fortitude in the face of enormous challenges and pressure. They have asked their people to restrain themselves. They have purposefully assumed a nonviolent posture in the face of challenges that might have invited others to engage in violence. And the Ukrainian people now deserve a right to choose their own future. The international community remains firmly by their side as they travel the difficult, democratic path to prosperity and to peace.

Lady Catherine Ashton.

HIGH REPRESENTATIVE ASHTON: Thank you, Secretary Kerry. Thank you, John, very much. I just want to add a few comments. You’ve set out very clearly the discussions on the agreement that’s been reached today. As you’ve said, these have been very frank, but I think constructive discussions that are looking to find the concrete steps, real, practical things that can de-escalate the tensions in Ukraine.

I think it was extremely important to bring us all together here to have that process of dialogue begin. It has to be the first priority that we focus on, to see a de-escalation of the situation, and collectively, as you’ve indicated, we agreed a number of concrete steps that we can see implemented immediately. The word “immediately” is extremely important in this context. We want to see these happen so that we can see things achieved.

The OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission, as you’ve indicated, will play a leading role in this. It will assist the Ukrainian authorities and local communities to take the necessary measures that they need to take. And we absolutely welcome the Ukrainian commitment to conduct an inclusive and transparent constitutional process. We know that free and fair presidential elections on the 25th of May are the best way to express the will of the people of Ukraine, as is this process of constitutional reform, and we want to see all candidates behaving well and being treated with great respect in that process.

We remain committed to the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. In the meantime, the European Union will continue to support efforts to stabilize the situation in Ukraine economically, financially and politically.

Today, President Barroso of the European Commission wrote to President Putin on behalf of the European Union, accepting President Putin’s proposal for consultations with Russia and Ukraine, trilateral consultations on the security of gas supply and transit.

I end by saying that I believe that by discussing constructively the solutions and actions, that this is the best way to find a way out of the current crisis. Thank you.